HarriX Webinar | Striking the Right Balance of Technology in Recruitment
- By Harri Insider Team | June 30, 2021
Welcome back to HarriX! This is an event hosted to discuss the evolution of recruitment technology in the retail and hospitality industry, including predicting trends and the importance of the human element in hiring practices.
In this session, we met with Chris Bailey, Head of Resourcing at The Works. He discusses the implementation of recruitment technology into his business and his tips for success. He stressed the importance of “people first” and having the right systems in place for your team to succeed.
Chris opened up the webinar by discussing how finding the right fit is applicable in all aspects of our lives. He says, “it’s all about putting the right systems first,” and this is crucial in the recruitment and hiring process. Implementing the proper technology helps managers and employees do the best job they can; a key theme throughout the panel! Let’s see some numbers:
- 68 days: The average time to fill a vacancy (this has risen over 50% in the last five years).
- 31 days: The lowest acceptable time a hiring manager will allow before thinking about sacrificing quality.
- £285. The cost of having an unfilled vacancy per day.
Chris discusses the importance of being “aligned with your hiring managers and departments” during recruitment. He encourages the audience to understand what people crave. Automation makes things easier while arming you with a trail of data. Technology is great in terms of data and making informed decisions, however, it can hinder our social interactions. How can we still portray company values in an automated process? This is where the importance of having a humanised process comes in.
Consider the different perspectives of those involved in the hiring process.
From a candidate’s perspective:
- Does this organisation care about me?
- What are the values of this organisation?
- Am I being listened to?
From a hiring manager’s perspective:
- How can I recruit quicker?
- I need access to the best candidates
- Am I being listened to?
The goal of automation is to get you to someone quicker, so do not lose the personal touches in the process, “the humanised element is absolutely critical.”
Speed of hire, quality of hire, and finding the right people are made easy. Chris discussed how his company, The Works, is navigating changes and the struggles they’re experiencing finding the right technology. Unsuccessful tech is a huge waste of time, money, and resources.
How do we use technology to improve our balance between streamlining a process and empowering hiring managers and candidates to do their best? How do we know if the technology is working? Listen to your employees and engage with AI technology that collects feedback data.
Technology also enables other recruiting feats that simply aren’t possible using manual means. With the right platform, a manager can process 1,000 applications to quickly sort the best fits.
However, he notes that it’s important to make a conscious effort to not lose the human aspect of the process. Let’s work hard to make our technological advances a part of the journey, not the heart of it.
